Cuppa load of this - brew brand offers tea fans the perfect job

A tea fanatic could be in for a job of a lifetime after a top brew brand launched a bid for a new trainee buyer.

The lucky candidate will be able to travel the world tasting hundreds of teas each week and will be tasked with tasting and selecting teas and coffees for the brand.

The new apprentice will begin working in the tea tasting room for Taylors of Harrogate, which makes the Yorkshire Tea brand.

Inside the tasting room they will be organising samples and preparing tasting batches until their palate is trained up enough to pick out the delicate sensitivities of different brews.

They will also be taught the jargon of the tea world, before spending six months of their initial training visiting tea plantations in places such as Malawi, Kenya, India and China.

Henry Boocock, who has worked for Taylors for the past five years said it was the perfect job.

Henry, an international business graduate, said: “It was never a job that I’d even thought about.

“But I was looking for something different - and this ticked all the boxes.

“I enjoyed drinking tea but had never considered it as a career, so came to it with a clean slate.

“Tasting is something you have to learn. They say 95 per cent of us can technically be trained as a professional taster. It’s about teaching your tongue as a muscle to pick up the skill.

“When we’re evaluating different teas, we use words and phrases in a way I’d never heard them used before.

“Sometimes, for example, we’d say a tea was brisk, gutty or useful - which means it would be a good tea for us. But if you were ear-wigging on the conversation a few eyebrows might get raised.”

Henry added despite being in the job for five years there is still more he needs to learn.

He said: “I’ve been here for five years now and although I’d say I’m technically confident, there’s still a lot to learn.

“Because tea is an agricultural crop, it’s always changing, subject to changes in the climate or conditions it’s grown in. We can’t be blasé and expect a certain tea to always taste the same, we have to ensure the quality is kept up.

“Being able to taste so many different types of tea, being spoilt for choice in types, flavours and infusions, is great. The world of tea is so much more than the cup you drink every day.

“Having all that at my fingertips makes me feel very lucky - and travelling to the origins is very special. You get to see first hand the social and environmental impact our projects are having around the world.”

Applications for the role of trainee tea buyer close on Wednesday and can be submitted here.